What happens behind closed doors? Lisa D’amour’s play Detroit begs this question be answered. Two households are set up, one with a perfect exterior and another with a few cracks. Characters Mary and Ben are the ‘perfect’ family. Except Ben lost his job and is working from home, and Mary has a drinking problem. The other family is younger Sharon and Kenny, who openly admit to being drug addicts in the process of recovery. The two families engage in a few backyard parties and the night seems to bring the real facts to light.
The set highlights the fact that the families have different appearances in society. On the left was a bright blue house with a nice white fence and bright red furniture. It is the embodiment of the American Dream and the …show more content…
Primarily, the play is a very dark comedy that tries to grasp too many themes that could not all be divulged at the same time. However, Taryn Tramill who played Mary does an excellent job of conveying both sides of her character. Mary is perhaps the most complex character in the play and she really shows the deterioration of a normal family during a financial crisis. The first time she appears we see her as nervous to resemble the perfect neighbor and wife. She is stuttering over her words and talks quickly as if to avoid the numerous awkward silences of the first encounter. Similarly, Sharon, played by Rebecca Rhodes, talks very quickly at this first encounter. The boys Kenny and Ben, played by Brad Middleton and Colin Prewitt respectively, are quiet and have to be urged to talk. In their later encounters, Mary is almost always drunk. Her relationship with Ben is fading, as all he will ever talk about is his website. She turns to alcohol and her friend Sharon. Her monologue is more full than her first conversation with Sharon, suggesting that she trusts Sharon enough to show her inner truths. It is less breathy and slower, more pure. The diction is excellent and she seems to just be uninhibited enough to lay everything out for the